You Like Me
by thisisironic
Summary: Once upon a time, Derek was Addison's McDreamy. Oneshot


**Title:** You Like Me

**Author:** Emilie

**Fandom:** Pre-_Grey's Anatomy_

**Pairing:** Addison/Derek

**Rating:** PG

**Summary:** Once upon a time, Derek was Addison's McDreamy.

**Disclaimer:** These character's aren't mine, sadly.

**Author's Note:** First time writing for this pairing _ever_ so I beg you to be gentle.

---

The first time they ever speak to each other is on a snowy Tuesday just outside of the locker room. The charts she's assigned to redo after the sloppiness of the shift before hers fall out of her hands ten feet from where they were handed to her and she swears under her breath, trying to keep her glasses from falling off as she bends over.

A soft voice startles her, "Here, I'll help you with that."

She looks up just as the handsome man is kneeling down beside her, nearly knocking their heads together. Apologizing, she stands up with the files she's collected while he does the same with the one's he grabbed. It only takes them a few seconds to figure out which files go where and she's got them back in her arms, even if he tries to take some himself, to lessen her load.

"It's alright, I'd like for Webber to see that I can handle the workload," Addison explains. "I swear he has eyes at the back of his head."

"All residents do," he smiles. "It's their job, right?"

At the sight of his smile, Addison nearly drops her files again. "R-right."

"I like your glasses." His hand touches them without a thought, like they're close friends and he has the the right to invade her space.

Not that Addison really minds, as she's too busy choking on her tongue to care. "I--I...well, thanks."

A curious look passes over his face, but his eyes never leave hers.

"I'm--I'm sorry, I stutter. Just a tiny bit and only when I'm nervous." Her cheeks burn to a shade of red rivaling her hair. "Not that--that I'm nervous now."

"No, of course you're not," he crosses his arms and tilts his head, a cocky smirk resting on his face as he chews his gum. "You're stuttering but not because you're nervous."

Addison nods, "Right."

"Even though you just said you only stutter when you're nervous," he imitates her nod, grin widening a little.

The one thing that can overcome being nervous for Addison is being mocked; and that's exactly what happens when she sees the look on his face and takes immediate offense. Being the geek in high school and college taught her enough to know that she can't stand idly by and let people take advantage of her. Which, in the moment, it seems this guy is doing.

Shaking her head, she starts to walk off. When she hears his footsteps, knowing that he's following her, she throws a dirty look over her shoulder. "You're arrogant."

He looks surprised rather than offended, like he's never been called that before. "I am?"

"Yes, arrogant."

"Well, to be fair, I'd have to be considering I'm a surgeon." He catches up with her fairly quickly, despite the advantage of her long legs over his. His arms are crossed behind his back and he still has a grin on his face. "I mean, anyone who walks into a room with the idea that they have the power to decide who lives and who dies has to be a little arrogant."

"That's called a God Complex. Surgeons are supposed to be confident but not--" Addison stops herself, shutting her eyes and taking in a deep breath. "Why am I still talking to you?"

He doesn't hesitate to fill in the blank. "Because you find me charming."

Addison rolls her eyes but she can't force herself to disagree with him. "Charming?"

"No?" He runs his hands through his short but unruly hair. "How about rugged?"

Addison snorts.

"Endearing?"

She gets to the elevator a second too late, the doors closing on her before she can stop them. "You are so..."

"Dreamy?" He cocks his head back, like he's picturing something. "Yeah, I think I like that..."

"You're not a surgeon."

At that, he looks a tiny bit offended, though he doesn't allow it to seep all the way into his expression. "I'm not a surgeon?"

"No, you're not. You're an intern."

He nods and leans in so his shoulder bumps hers, "As are you."

"Here you are cocky and arrogant like you're some hotshot surgeon when you're just an intern who's bound to choke up the next time he _thinks_ about holding a scalpel. So this whole act you're putting on where you're this _arrogant_--"

"Don't forget cocky," he supplies and she swears she sees him wink at her. "Oh, and dreamy. I'm dreamy too. Maybe one of us should be writing this down."

"You--!" Addison bites down on her tongue and looks over her shoulder to make sure there aren't any residents around. Before she can say anything, yell anything or inflict any damage on him, he cuts her off.

"I think I like you like this," he's looking up above the elevator to see which floor its on as he speaks, as if he's having a natural conversation with a longtime friend.

Addison takes a second to figure out what to say to that, "Wh...like what?"

"Not that I don't find the stuttering endearing," he adds as an afterthought. "But I like you like this a lot more."

Addison sets her jaw, "You do realize that I'm two seconds from hitting you, right?"

He nods, "Exactly."

"So, let me get this straight," Addison touches a hand to her forehead, trying to comprehend how this man's brain works. "You like the fact that I'm about to _hurt_ you?"

"That just makes me sound like I'm a masochist, which I'm not. Just a workaholic." He crosses his arms and finally turns so he's facing her. He leans against the wall in a way that does Addison no good in trying to put him as far away in her mind as possible. "Is that what you like about me?"

"I'm sorry, but did I ever say I liked anything about you?"

"Admit it, you like me." He smiles big and wide, tilting his head again. "I'm cocky, arrogant, dreamy and a workaholic. You _like_ me."

Addison tilts her head right back at him. "At least you're willing to admit you're arrogant."

"You like being right, don't you? Is that why you're still on the arrogant thing?"

"I'm still on the arrogant thing because you're still being arrogant."

He acts as innocent as he can manage, pointing to the closed doors. "I'm just waiting for an elevator. Can someone really wait for an elevator arrogantly?"

"You can."

He laughs and Addison has to fight not to smile; as much of an arrogant bastard as he is, he has an adorable laugh. "I really do like you better when you're like this. Maybe I should wait for an elevator arrogantly more often."

"That would take up a lot of your time."

He's still smiling but the intensity in his voice takes Addison by surprise. "It'd be worth it."

"Are--?" Addison curses herself for not only asking, but _wanting_ to ask: "Are you hitting on me?"

His eyes narrow playfully. "Do you _want_ me to be hitting on you?"

"God, you're...every time I think one thing you go and make me think the exact opposite."

"Did you just call me God? If you'd like for me to not be arrogant then maybe you should call me by my other name. It's Derek, by the way."

"I know. I mean--" Addison sighs to herself, pressing the button again and cursing the slow lift. The doors opened a second later and he followed her in. She has no idea whether or not she likes or hates that he does. "I read your name tag"

"So you can read..." He nods to himself as the doors close, leaving them alone in the elevator with five floors to go. "Literate, beautiful and passionate. If I had a type, I'd say you were it."

Addison tries to brush it off, to snort like he's still annoying her. The number two lights up above the doors. Three floors to go. She glances over at him.

"You're staring at me."

Her cheeks are going to _stay_ red if she keeps blushing. "I--no, I wasn't."

"It's alright, I was staring at you too."

"No, you weren't."

"Yes, I was."

"I would've seen you."

"Because you were staring at me?"

"Yes and--" Addison stops herself and then growls, frustrated.

A few moments of silence pass before Derek, a smile creeping onto his face, speaks up in a hushed whisper: "Did you growl at me?"

"I--"

"Don't apologize," he licks his lips. "I kind of liked it."

Addison narrows her eyes, even if she's pointedly staring at the closed doors. "I wasn't going to apologize."

She sees his smile get bigger from the corner of her eye. "Good."

Addison can't help herself: "Did you really like that I growled?"

Derek laughs, "If you get to like me because I'm an arrogant, dreamy, workaholic intern then I get to like your growl."

"Do you know that you repeat yourself a lot?"

He nods, "I know that I repeat myself a lot."

"It's not as if I find it endearing."

"Of course you do," he turns to face her, crossing his arms across his chest. "Because if you didn't find me so endearing then you would've hit me like you said you would a long time ago."

Addison winces inwardly, knowing he's right. "Maybe...maybe I'm just bidding my time."

"You're a surgeon," he whispers and it sends a shiver up her spine. "It's not in your blood to bid your time."

"In the course of ten minutes you've invaded my personal space, mocked me, acted arrogant, allowed me to call you on it, followed me into an elevator, flirted with me and now you've just called me a surgeon," Addison sighs and looks down at her feet. They shuffle like she's some kind of schoolgirl on the playground. It's a contradiction of feeling completely confident--like she's holding a scalpel instead of flirting with a guy--and being scared out of her mind. "Are you ever going to ask me out or is this going to be like a merrygoround and we'll just rinse and re--?"

"First," he stops her, his voice soft and his smile only barely on his lips. He's intense and quiet instead of smirky and pronounced for the first time since they started talking. "I'd like to know one thing."

"And what's that?"

"When I ask you out, which I will..." He takes a step closer. "Would you like me to refer to you as Doctor? Or can I call you Addison?"

A smile graces her lips, lifting her head so her eyes could meet his. "Addison."

"How about Addie?"

She admits to herself that the power he's handed over to her is an amazing thing to have. "Addison's fine."

His smile never wavers and he takes another step, eyes glinting. "Addison?"

Praying she isn't giving away how eager and hopeful she is that this is real and isn't some kind of evil and elaborate prank, Addison responds simply: "Yes?"

"I've been meaning to ask you out since I first saw you, do you know that?" Another step. "You had your hair up in this messy ponytail, your glasses were crooked and you were carrying no less than ten dozen charts; I'd never seen someone so beautiful before."

Addison swallows, voice catching in her throat. "Really?"

"Really." He takes his last step, the edge of his shoes touching hers. Their faces are less than a foot from each other and Addison prays she remembers how to breathe. "Even if you weren't the most beautiful woman in the world you'd drive me crazy anyways. Because I'm an arrogant bastard, I don't usually think there are a lot of people who are smarter than me but you...I think you just might be."

She can't help it: "I think I might be, too."

He smiles and leans in, warm breath coasting across her cheek. She shivers before she can stop herself. "Your shift ends at seven. Do you like Italian food? Because if you do, I know this great place around the corner."

Addison knows the city pretty well so she falters at that, "Around the corner?"

"Twenty blocks around the corner," Derek shrugs, hardly put off. "Walking's good, it's healthy. I'm a doctor, I know these things."

"I like Italian," Addison blurts out.

The elevator stops with a _ding!_ and then the doors slide open. Derek nods a tiny little nod. "That's good to hear."

He lets her walk out first and once they're outside she stops. "I still think you're arrogant."

"As is your right," he smiles and his hand touches hers momentarily.

They part ways but he's no more than five steps way before he turns so he's walking backwards, calling after her. "I was right, you know, you _do_ like me!"

_finis_


End file.
